Sexual Orientation: Nature vs. Nurture

With the modern acceptance of different sexual preferences has come a rise in the numbers of openly homosexual and bisexual citizens.  Has today’s culture simply allowed people to feel more comfortable with their feelings or has it opened the doorway for once “straight” people to embrace same sex relationships?

Less than a century ago, it was terribly frowned upon to engage in same sex relationships, but upon coming into the 21st century the stigma surrounding homosexuality has lessened greatly (although not disappeared entirely), has this social indifference caused a rise in the homosexual population?

Of course many people would immediately answer in the negative, claiming that nature alone is responsible for our sexual orientation, that it is decided at birth and is unchangeable.  You may argue that the “rise” in numbers is due only to the change in the amount of people willing to “come out” publicly, and that previously, many people were simply feigning interest in the opposite sex in order to conform to society’s expectations. This theory is supported by the obvious examples of people long ago who were gay or who pretended to be straight. Examples of such characters include William Shakespeare and Adolf Hitler who were both rumoured to be bisexual, strengthening the theory that people simply attempted to hide their emotions from the public.

Another point would be to look at the relationships of animals. Over the years a number of species and genders of animals have been recorded as entering gay partnerships, with single couples such as observed in swans and flamingos or whole species as can be noted in the activities of animals such as elephants, monkeys and dolphins. With no real “society” to speak of in these cases, we can assume that such urges are completely natural and not influenced by outside sources. On the other hand, it could be debated that large groups of same gender sex such as seen in elephants are the result of a learned and now instinctual behaviour.

Alternatively, stereotypes offer an interesting argument in favour of sexuality being learned. With certain jobs such as dancing, expected o be done by gay men, the fact that many male dancers are gay may suggest that they have learned this behaviour form their surroundings. However this theory can be ignored as simply as suggesting that perhaps the dancing jobs merely appeal to a majorly gay sector of the community.

Despite this argument though there are cases of institutions which appear to play a large part in bringing people into their sexuality. An example of this would be a particular arts school in London, wherein the vast majority of students are bi/homosexual, and other pupils are bullied or outcast if they are not. This demonstrates an obvious social contributor, but does not indicate such reactions from the rest of the population.

It is impossible to determine why people are of a specific sexual orientation, or whether it can be changed or chosen. However it cannot be denied that certain factors both natural and sociological contribute.